ESA’s iicon Summit Lines Up Gaming’s Most Powerful Roster

The Entertainment Software Association has added EA Sports CEO Andrew Wilson as a headline speaker at its new Interactive Innovation Conference, known as iicon. Wilson joins a main-stage roster that already includes Strauss Zelnick, chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive; Yves Guillemot, co-founder and CEO of Ubisoft; Dylan Jadeja, CEO of Riot Games; and Brian Ward, CEO of Savvy Games Group.

The invitation-only conference takes place April 27 through 30, 2026 at the Fontainebleau Resort in Las Vegas, and is built to bring together business executives and senior decision-makers from across industries to explore growth and expansion opportunities originating in interactive entertainment.

Wilson and Zelnick will open the event as the first two sessions on day one. Guillemot, Jadeja, and Ward head the second day of programming. The agenda reaches well past game studios into professional sports, film, media, finance, healthcare, education, and technology.

WWE’s Xavier Woods and 2K’s Ronnie 2K will discuss how talent connects with global audiences. Leaders from Major League Baseball and the NBA will cover sports storytelling through games. Story Kitchen, the production firm behind the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, will address how to leverage game IP for the screen. Warner Bros. Discovery and Skybound Entertainment are also contributing sessions that showcase what the ESA calls “the deep interest of Hollywood in video game IP.”

“Interactive entertainment now influences how companies across the economy think about technology, storytelling, and engagement,” said Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association. “With iicon, the decision makers in our industry can connect directly with innovators in industries like sports, finance, and media. This is the only event that will bring together this level of cross-industry leadership to explore how interactive entertainment drives revenue, grows audiences, and builds brand loyalty.”

IGN Entertainment, the parent company of GamesIndustry.biz, is leading a data-focused breakout session sharing insights from its upcoming Generations in Play research initiative. Karl Stewart, SVP of IGN Entertainment Global Marketing and Head of the IMAGINE AI platform, will be in conversation with Brent Koning, Global Head of Gaming at Dentsu, about the different patterns of media consumption between generations. GamesIndustry.biz will also participate in other sessions to be announced.

Additional speakers include executives from Roblox, Amazon, Microsoft Xbox, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Scopely, AWS, 2K Games, The New York Times, Yahoo, the Creative Artists Agency, the NHLPA, the American Red Cross, and Goldman Sachs. The current lineup is listed on the iicon website, with more sessions being announced in the coming weeks.

The ESA designed iicon not as a trade show or consumer event but as a curated forum for executives and innovators to network, build relationships, and explore new business ideas and partnerships. The agenda includes visionary keynotes, discussions and workshops, and what the ESA describes as “elite networking opportunities with executives shaping the future of entertainment, business, and technology.”

Take-Two’s Zelnick called his company a long-standing member and proud supporter of the ESA. He described iicon as a representation of the ongoing evolution of interactive entertainment and what he views as its irrefutable rise as the most beloved art form and cultural influence in the world today. He added that Take-Two looks forward to convening with a broad array of stakeholders during what he believes to be one of the strongest periods in the industry’s history.

Laurent Detoc, Chief Direct-to-Player Officer at Ubisoft, said video games push the boundaries of technology and creativity in ways that extend far beyond entertainment. He expressed enthusiasm for iicon’s ability to bring together visionary leaders from inside and outside the industry to influence the future impact of games.

Sarah Bond, President of Xbox, said the company’s mission is to bring the joy of gaming to players wherever they are while creating opportunities for the creators behind those experiences. She praised the ESA for establishing iicon as a platform to deepen connections among executives and thought leaders from gaming and a wide range of partner industries, and said she expects collaboration and growth to follow from it.

Christoph Hartmann, Vice President of Amazon Games, said the games industry is constantly evolving and that its intersection with other disciplines has never been more pronounced. He described iicon as a gathering of the brightest minds in games, built to navigate present challenges and harness the opportunities ahead, and said Amazon Games is proud to contribute to the endeavor.

John Heinecke, Chief Publishing Officer of Square Enix for the Americas, EMEA, and ANZ, said video games have been a force in global culture by combining entertainment, community building, and new technologies. He called iicon an incredible forum for business leaders and innovators to celebrate the industry’s achievements and build the future of entertainment together.

“The Entertainment Software Association and its member companies are among the innovators and leaders shaping the future of culture, business and human connection. It’s a natural role for ESA to host and support an event that fosters an open exchange of new ideas with our peer industry leaders,” said Doug Bowser, Chairman of the ESA Board. “iicon is bringing together changemakers from across industries to envision how the strengths of the interactive entertainment industry can break entirely new ground.”

Iicon is the ESA’s first large-scale event since the end of the E3 showcase, which ran from 1995 until 2021 before going on hiatus and then being formally sunsetted in 2023. Iicon was announced in 2025, with Pierre-Louis describing it at the time as “creating a space for visionaries across industries to come together, connect and reimagine what’s possible through interactive entertainment.” The global video game industry is set to surpass $300 billion in projected revenue by 2027, and the ESA is positioning iicon as “the premier summit for discovering new opportunities powered by the industry and its technology.”

Confirmed participating organizations also include Disney, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Nintendo of America, Square Enix, and Warner Bros. Games. Interested attendees and potential sponsors can pre-register and sign up for updates at iicon.com.